Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education, all Teaching, Learning, and Technology students who come into contact with children either through field-based or research experience in school settings must obtain and present to the TLT Program Coordinator the following up-to-date (not more than one year old) clearances upon matriculation into their academic program:

FBI Federal Criminal History Record (Act 114): Information about how to obtain your FBI clearance is available at http://www.pa.cogentid.com/PDE_Main.html

Upon registering for the fingerprint check, you will be assigned a secure registration ID# that you must supply to the TLT Program Secretary so that we can access your FBI clearance online. You will not be able to access your records online yourself, so be sure to pay the additional $2.00 for an "unofficial" paper copy of your FBI clearance so that you will have access to your report and have some proof that you were fingerprinted.

Additionally, please be sure to request that your FBI records are processed through the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) NOT the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) or the Department of Banking (DOB).

Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Records Check (Act 34): Use the attached form or request your record through the PATCH system found at https://epatch.state.pa.us/Home.jsp

Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (Act 151): Use the attached form; additional information found at http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/partnersproviders/childwelfare/003671038.htm

Mantoux Tuberculosis Screening or the results of a chest X-ray: Use the attached form. Click here for information about having this test done at Lehigh's Health Center.

Forms are also available from the TLT Program Secretary, in Iacocca Hall Room A108.

After obtaining your clearances, bring your FBI secure registration ID# and all original documents to the TLT Program Office (Room A108, Iacocca Hall) so we can make copies for our records.

Be sure to store your clearances in a secure location and to keep them with you at all times when dealing with children. The schools are mandated by PDE to check original clearances for anyone entering the building who will be in direct contact with children. The TLT Program is not permitted to replace lost clearances and will not supply copies on your behalf to the schools.

Before any student will be permitted to register for any course with a field experience component or initiate a research activity that involves school-based contact with children, the following conditions must be met:

• Either the Mantoux must be negative or the student must have a clear chest X-ray that is less than 5 years old.


• All three other documents show that “no record exists.”
  

Students will not be placed in field or research experiences until all documentation is clear; meaning that Mantoux or chest X-ray is negative and criminal background checks indicate that “no record exists.”

If any action is needed in response to any clearance check, that action is solely the responsibility of the student, not the Teaching, Learning, and Technology faculty or staff.

It is the student’s responsibility to keep clearance documents current by obtaining annual updates throughout his/her academic program and providing copies of them to the TLT Program Coordinator upon receipt.

Students must have up-to-date (not more than one year old), original
documents available for school administrators upon request during all field assignments. Failure to produce documentation upon request will result in removal from the schools.

Decisions to admit students into public school practicum or internship placements are solely the purview of school districts. The department and/or TLT Program does not debate the merits of any school district decision in relation to clearance check results.

If a student is arrested during his/her field placement or research experience, the TLT Program Coordinator will remove the student from the field placement or research experience pending dispensation of the arrest incident.

Click here for a printable version of this policy.

To learn more about our academic programs in Teaching, Learning, and Technology, click the links in the dark blue area on the right or contact the TLT Program Coordinator (TLTProgram@Lehigh.edu, 610-758-3230).